Till the End of Time Part One
by Akira444
Summary: Captain Jack Harkness has left Earth behind for the final time. The Doctor Ten and Romana Three end up on the same planet as Captain Jack and the three find themselves encountering a young girl who can turn people into playing cards.
1. Chapter 1

Till the End of Time – Part One, Chapter One

_Okay, so what happens is, we find our beloved Captain on a planet known with the slang term of Euchre – no one really knows why it's called this. Romana and the Doctor are also headed to the same planet due to TARDIS problems and the three find themselves becoming kidnapped by the locals. Romana befriends a young girl who has the strange ability to turn people and objects into playing cards. This, my friends, is just the first season... _

The dream came to him again like a clouded memory. It was during happier times, Christmas; the pair sitting on the dock enjoying a bottle of expensive wine. He was boasting about his past again, his war time history and the younger man watched on in loving interest. It was fun getting the younger man quite intoxicated, seeing him becoming much more honest than usual. Not to mention, his shy nature seemed to disappear completely in the bedroom – and being Christmas Eve, the older man was expecting just that.

Captain Jack Harkness drew his arms around Ianto Jones' broad shoulders, pulling him close to his chest. He ruffled the younger man's dark hair gently and planted a kiss on the top of his head.

"I won't let anything happen to you, I promise".

Somewhere at the edge of the Universe, the older man woke. He ran his fingers through his thick blonde hair in frustration, and slammed a fist into the dusted old pillow. Jack let his sheet drop to the top of his thighs as he struggled to keep tears from falling. The same dream repeated over and over again, and for a moment – for one brief moment, he wished the Doctor could... somehow... fix it, bring Ianto back to him. But, no. The Doctor would say that it was something fixed in time, something that could not be changed for it would cause a massive disturbance in not only the rift – but the universe. Ianto had to die. Jack had to accept it, but he couldn't.

There could never be another Ianto.

--

Hours later, Jack found himself in the middle of a rather large museum. He was following a tour, for the planet was known for its strange and wonderful treasures. Still keeping to his con man roots, Jack wanted a little bit of treasure for himself. Something to help him start his new life as he travelled through time and space, helping him to continue life but still keep the memory of his beloved Ianto at the back of his mind, and Gwen. He loved them both dearly – but Ianto was something more. Something no other being could be. It was as if Ianto was his second heart... they understood each other, they completed each other, and the 456 took him away. For what? Jack had questioned the thought over and over again, until the tour guide finally noticed Jack wasn't paying attention.

"Sir?" The strange creature asked him, it was a woman, obviously, but she had bright silver hair and something that looked like gills on her cheeks. Way to destroy her attractive figure, Jack thought bitterly. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah", Jack replied, quickly. He didn't want to make it look _too_ obvious he was planning to steal this device – something that could help his vortex manipulator work a bit better. Hopefully if the Doctor didn't sneak up behind him and destroy it again – all the merrier, "Just fascinated by this wonderful painting", he lied through his teeth. The painting was horrible, just a streak of red paint across a holographic canvas. No texture, no feeling, no emotion, it was just called... 'Red Stripe'.

The tour guide eyed him carefully and Jack continued on their way, briefly taking a second to step to the left and sneak under the velvet rope where he then proceeded to hurry toward a locked door. He took a device from his pocket and ran it across the lock – something similar to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, but it mainly worked on locks and combinations. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, locking it behind him, and then turned to see the room bathed in complete darkness.

He took a step forward and the lights switched on, breathing over the intimate objects before him. Jack examined each one with a brief swift glance, not wanting to spare too much more time than necessary. He finally saw what he came for, looked over his shoulder, and grabbed it off the shelf. It was marked unknown and alarms suddenly rang through the building.

Shit, he thought, thinking the guide must've noticed he was missing. Jack opted for a way out. The front door, right, he ran for it and let the screwdriver do its job, unlocking the door in turn, and seconds later he managed to get out, locking the door behind him, hugged the wall and turned left. The tour guide came running down the hallway as Jack made an exit from what looked like the men's room.

"Sorry. Nature called", Jack replied with his ever so cocky grin, as the guide shook her head. "What's with the alarms?"

"Someone stole one of the jewels from the fifth floor. Everyone has been ordered into lock down until they find the..." she was cut off when a man came running past them, obviously holding something very big and shiny. Jack took out his pistol and shot the man clear in the leg, causing him to fall.

"That him?" Jack asked, holstering his weapon. Yes, of course it was. Jack had 'met him in a bar' and the pair had discussed this event, Jack promising to give the man some money in response if he played as a thief. Of course – the whole shooting part was something all together. Jack knew that the little bugger was going to turn him in regardless when he got captured.

The guide nodded, as security filled the room and they applauded Jack for his quick actions.

"So, I guess that could mean dinner?" The woman questioned, as Jack raised a brow.

"With you?" He enquired, the brow still raised as he looked her over once more, still feeling the object grinding against the insides of his pocket.

"No. A friend of mine... I think you'll like her". She added with a smile and disappeared down the hall, leaving Jack to wonder what that was all about.

--

Sometime later, Jack was in one of the local bars of the city with the friend the tour guide had told him about. He still hadn't obtained her name, sometimes it was best not to know a potential one nighter's name. He of course – had boasted his name like no tomorrow as he always did, and she merely replied with a cocky smile as her long, thin fingers graced the bottle of local ale.

She had asked him about his wrist device, which seemed to attract a few attention spans along the way, so Jack noticed.

"It kind of works as if you're pointing your thumb out on the side of the road", Jack Harkness started to describe the device to the blue woman opposite him. She was incredibly beautiful, so he noticed. Smooth, blue skin with pigmentations of sparkling silver throughout, her hair was a thin white, with two large blue 'rabbit' ears coming from the top of her head and twisting down to the base of her spine. Jack however continued to talk. "A nearby ship picks up your signal, and off you go. Ever read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Brilliant book, I reckon you could learn a thing or two, such as why you should never read poetry to the barman", he jabbed his finger in the direction of the thing behind the bar, wiping a glass with a dirtied cloth, his cold, grey eyes hiding a sneer for his lips were nothing more than something that resembled jelly – much like the rest of his body. "So, you were asking about how I got here?"

"Yes..." the woman reached behind her and pulled a weapon from her holster, training it upon Jack's face. "...we've been looking for you, actually".

"So", began Jack, raising his hands. "I guess you don't want to come back to my place?" Dammit, he thought to himself. The Tour Guide was in on it all along.

His answer was a quick slap to the cheek by the butt of the weapon, causing him to black out completely.

--

"Doctor, I must stress that this is in complete violation of Gallifrey's rules regarding containing hazardous objects. Simply placing a band-aid over it will not solve the problem!"

The Doctor completely ignored his Companion, for, with his tongue stuck out in concentration, he was sticking a band-aid over a leaking pipe over the TARDIS' control panel. He stepped back and let out a sigh of admiration, followed by his arms crossing over his chest. "There you go! Perfect. It'll hold until we get to our next destination where I can find some reasonable welding materials".

"Doctor! Are you even listening to me?" The former President of Gallifrey stood within close proximity of the Doctor, to the point where he turned his head and finally made eye contact with her.

"Oh yes, Romana, do me a favour. Here's some sticky-tape, fix up that broken leaver, will you?" He tossed his companion a roll of sticky-tape, extra strong mind you, and the dark haired woman stomped her foot in frustration.

"I will not! This is in complete violation of rules regarding TARDIS maintenance. I suggest you find a place to land immediately where we can obtain suitable welding materials!" Yes, Romana had just quoted two different text-books, but the Doctor seemed to be forgetting both major rules when it came to hazardous objects and how to maintain your TARDIS.

"That's what I just told you", the Doctor said, without a hint of frustration in his tone. "The band-aid will hold, as will the sticky-tape. We just need it to make a descent. Then, I'll go fishing, and you can find those materials you treasure so much. The planet of Euchre will hold many treasures – I'm sure! Mind you, that's just the slang name... but I'm sure you are aware of that", he grinned broadly, as he skipped around to the broken lever and pointed at it. "Here. I'll even hold the end while you wrap it around the lever".

"No wonder you failed in your exams". Romana added with a grunt, and finally giving into the temptation of holding the sticky-tape, she aided the Doctor and helped fix the broken lever.

--

Jack awoke in a daze. Lately he seemed to have a bad habit when it came to attracting women, they all wanted to kill him. Some succeeded; some didn't, usually ending up becoming the victim themselves. He stretched and yawned, then let out a violent "OUCH!" as his hands slammed against a concrete roof. Great. He was in a match box. Upon a quick feel of the pitch black room, Jack realised it was big enough just for him to lie down and sit up. Obviously they didn't care about deep vein thrombosis on this planet.

"Hey! Can anyone hear me? Hello!" Jack called to the roof, vaguely being reminded of the time when he had the horrible sensation of being flooded with concrete from above. It took him weeks to get it out of his butt crack. "This isn't fair you know, I don't even know what I've done..."

Something slid open at the top of the room. A bright light blinded Jack and he shielded his eyes, briefly catching a pair of beautiful emerald green eyes in return. They blinked in rapid motion and suddenly Jack felt something being dropped on his lap. Food, or so he thought.

"I demand to talk to your leader!" Jack ignored the hunger pain in his stomach for a moment and the figure leant in a bit closer. Barrels of red hair tickled the top of Jack's head and he heard a soft giggle emerging.

It sounded child-like.

"Um, excuse me", Jack continued. "Is there someone I can talk to?"

"PRUDENCE!" shouted a violent voice, which made Jack shudder a little. "Get away from there! I told you not to play with him!"

She's not exactly playing with me, thought Jack, remembering the name. Prudence. Entirely Earth-like, then again, the planet Euchre was in the same time line as Earth's 30th century, and he knew that humans had migrated to other planets due to the Earth's population imbalance. The lid closed and Jack had been plunged into darkness once more, frowning a little. His hands clasped around the small bag of crisps that had dropped onto his lap, and he tore them open eagerly. He chewed on a chip and grunted, nothing like Earth crisps, it had a strange sweet potato flavour hinted with a dash of caramel, not to mention the chip itself crumbled like cardboard in his mouth, but at least it was something.

All he had to do now was try and figure out who wanted him here and why. Jack assumed he didn't leave the planet; he would've been able to sense that. But he also knew the planet held several different colonies, one being a third-world type colony where they kept Earth's migrants. Perhaps this was his location, judging by the girl's name and the strange crisps. The woman he was talking to at the bar must've known he had come from Earth somehow, and quite possibly – the planet had suddenly taken a dislike toward immigrants.

But why?


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

_Once again, I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood... any characters you don't recognise are from my own mind. Enjoy! _

The TARDIS phased into view in the middle of a desert. The winds were picking up and wisps of sand gathered like a cyclone shape as the TARDIS appeared in full view. The door creaked open and the Doctor stepped out, squinting into the bright sunlight and gazed upon the surroundings in disappointment.

"Hmm, must've made a wrong turn".

"You're always making a wrong turn. I don't see why you don't let me drive, the TARDIS wasn't designed for Academy drop outs", Romana grumbled as she joined the Doctor on the sandy floor.

The Doctor turned to face her for a moment, frustrated with her attitude. "Have you ever thought for just one moment that perhaps insulting me isn't going to get you very far? I would've imagined with your new regeneration you would've picked up a thing or two in terms of acting civilly toward me". The Doctor knew Romana had always been jealous of him, he bouncing across time and space saving planets and civilisations, while she, after her last adventure with him, stayed on Gallifrey and rose to become President.

Romana, for once in her life was speechless. The Doctor had never really retorted to her comments like this before, so after the pair had been staring at each other in a heated manner, Romana pushed past him. "I'm picking up life forms. This way". The device on her wrist bleeped uncontrollably for a minute, and the Doctor sighed, knowing he couldn't possibly change her personality no matter how hard he tried.

Romana was Romana, that much he knew, and although he enjoyed her lighter more curious side during her second regeneration, he did honestly hated to see her first one go. Perhaps she was fighting to prove that she wasn't a damsel any longer, the Doctor knew that much – always fighting to not let herself get into trouble and to prove that he wouldn't regret her tagging along on his adventures. At one stage, the pair were on a planet where they had been drugged and forced to stay in the same room together. The drugged state had clouded their minds of all logical thought for a good two days, and the pair had somehow ended up entangled in each other's arms, the Doctor now shaking his head as he recalled that moment.

Being intimate with Romana was like sleeping with one of the Slytheeins. He even wondered if she remembered the event, and perhaps that was another reason why she was so hostile toward him.

The Doctor trudged behind his Companion, a rarity in most cases, but Romana did have the tracking device. He noticed her attire had also changed along with her personality – leather pants, a liking for black singlet tops, and he randomly saw her sporting a weapon if she could find one. Another one of those I'm not a damsel moments, despite his hate for guns – perhaps she carried one because he hated them.

"Romana!" The Doctor called, suddenly spying something on the horizon. "Slow down a bit, will you? I do not like what I'm seeing".

"Oh, shush. It's just a dust storm, look", she turned to him and the device scanned the horizon, bringing some sense of ease to the Doctor, but still his stomach churned a little at the thought. "See? Nothing to worry about. No blades of terror are going to cut through us.....!" The Doctor watched in horror as Romana suddenly disappeared down a hole under her feet. He reacted quickly, falling to his stomach and grabbing her hand as her feet dangled into the darkness below.

"Take my other hand!" The Doctor said, reaching down to her.

"No! I can get out of this myself! It's not helping with the way you're twisting my wrist!"

"How about I just let go of you all together?" The Doctor snarled, and nearly regretted those words, for a moment later he felt the tip of something sharp pressing at the base of his neck and Romana's surprised expression made him realise that their situation had suddenly changed for the worst. "On second thought, maybe not".

--

Jack Harkness had finished his crisps within a few painful minutes of eating them. His stomach still growled in a pained hunger, so he decided to lie down and try to get some sleep. Yet, the bright light returned, and a figure suddenly landed hard on Jack himself, causing the man to yelp in surprise.

The Doctor groaned, the light staying for a few seconds for the pair to share a brief eye contact before the Doctor somehow managed to roll off Jack and try to jump up. Instead, he hit his head.

"Jack!" He said in surprise, rubbing the top of his head and sniffing his fingers to make sure he wasn't bleeding. "Jack, what are you doing here? Wait, where is here... hang on, I don't remember getting transported... Romana... we were drugged...!"

"Doctor, slow down, don't try to move – we're in a constricted space as it is... not that I mind being so close to you", he offered a cocky grin, which, the Doctor did not enjoy. Jack's face returned to a serious nature. He cleared his throat. "I met a woman in a bar in the city. We were hitting it off, but she knocked me out and I woke up here. A girl gave me some food earlier before, her name was Prudence... did you see anything outside, Doctor?" He paused. "Romana? Who is Romana?"

The Doctor managed to wrap his head around what Jack was saying and shook his head. "I didn't see anything. Romana had fallen down a hole on our way to the city, and then all of a sudden a few nasty looking guards appeared. There was a strange smell... it was... yes. A strange sort of perfume, oh come on Jack, help me here. What else did you see? Anything? We could be on the immigrant side of the planet, yes, they don't really like intruders I see so they sent us here... but why Romana, why would they want Romana?" The Doctor fumbled around his pocket and removed his sonic screwdriver, lighting it up and a familiar buzzing sensation filled the space. The Doctor scanned the concrete walls, hoping for a weak spot, but found none except for the roof. Even still, it would need an explosion of some kind to get them out. He frowned.

"You still didn't answer my question. Who is Romana?" Jack was grateful for the earlier information, though, and as much as he liked being in a close proximity to the Doctor – he was more curious to know as to who this Romana person was.

"Oh, my Companion, another Time Lord", the Doctor pressed his hands against the roof and grunted. "Must be sealed with something surely..."

"Another Time Lord? But I thought you said they were destroyed". Jack could feel the Doctor moving about quite rapidly and his shadows were making him feel quite ill.

"Not her, oh no, not Romana. She doesn't go down without a fight".

"Sounds like my kind of woman".

"Help me with this; I think I can get it loose". The Doctor kept on pressing his hands against the roof and as did Jack. "You know what really ticks me off, being taken prisoner and not knowing why". The Doctor grunted and the roof slid open, and the Doctor climbed out, being briefly blinded by the sunlight for a moment. He helped Jack out, grabbing his wrist and soon the other man stood beside him, only to see complete and utter destruction.

A scream filled the air and the Doctor's hearts wrenched. "Romana", he hurried off in the direction of the scream, Jack hot on his tail. It was strange that their cell was not guarded, and they didn't hear any noises of war above. But then, the pair came to a skidding halt only to find Romana tied to a pole, and the smell of burning wood filled their nostrils.

"Doctor!" she cried. "I take back everything I ever said, just please, get me out of here! They're burning me because they think I'm a witch!"

"That's Romana?" Jack asked, eyeing her intently. He liked what he saw, and ignoring the Doctor's open mouth to reply, Jack hurried to Romana's aid. He untied the ropes, threw her over his shoulders, and joined the Doctor once more. "There we are. That'll cost you a dinner. My treat".

Romana dusted the ash from her black attire and threw a heated gaze at Jack. "Let me guess. Captain Jack Harkness, oh yes, I've heard _all_ about you". Her tone was bitter, and the Doctor merely whispered in Jack's ear.

"You'll have to get her drunk. She's a lot easier to get along with that way".

"Oh, she's that kind of woman", Jack frowned at the thought; he watched as she shook her hair free from its tie and continued to dust herself off.

"Now that we know each other, how about we go find who is in charge of this place and why they wanted to kill us. The strange thing is that when I woke up, I was tied to the pole... but didn't see anyone at all". Romana tapped her chin and saw something hiding behind one of the nearby rundown buildings, still smouldering from an earlier attack by the looks of things. She headed off into that direction, the Doctor and Jack curiously following her.

The three stopped when they saw a beautiful little girl, unlike they'd ever seen. Her features resembled a porcelain doll, bright red hair and emerald green eyes. She oddly wore a pretty blue dress and white shoes, and carried a doll matching her looks. She rubbed her nose, and Romana approached her carefully.

"Hello", Romana said, in a gentle tone that even surprised the Doctor. "Do you have a name?"

The girl suddenly pointed over Romana's shoulder. Romana turned her head slightly to follow the direction as to where she was pointing, and eventually Romana turned her body all together. Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

The Doctor and Jack had turned into playing cards.

"Oh no... Doctor, Jack!" Romana picked them up carefully and she turned back to see what the girl had to say, but she was gone. "Don't worry – I'll figure this out. I've got to, but first I need to get back to the TARDIS..."


End file.
